...till death, right?

Anniversary Party

2011-10-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

To have... or not to have?

I feel bad even mentioning our anniversary let alone even having a party.
I feel like a failure for not getting our thank yous out before the year was up. I really wanted to post pictures of the wedding on facebook but haven't because again thank you notes never got sent. Ugh.

Time sure does fly

2011-10-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

We've been married 11 months today. Crazy
Sorry I haven't been better about keeping you guys up to date with our lives. Here is a quick run down...

Phil lost his job when Borders closed their doors but he is now working as a tutor/ aid at a local high school. At the moment hes shadowing two students to help them learn English better. Hes really enjoying it.

I'm still busy working at Dynamic Designworks as a designer and social media guru. Its been fun taking on the social media part... very different but still fun.

Lets see what else can I tell you... We got a couch lol. Well, found one on the side of the road that is. We like to curb shop lol! Its been nice to have extra seating on the few occasions when we host bible study or have friends over.

We got super nerdy a few months ago and got memberships to the Natural History Museum. Phil loves the dinosaurs a lot!

oh I should apologize... I'm a procrastinator. I still haven't gotten thank you's from the wedding sent out. Biggest failure thus far in my marriage! Haha

six months ago...

2011-05-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

We've been married half a year today!

Ive been trying to type up a nice long blog post about how wonderful being married is, how it was an adjustment from my single life and all the other silly things that have happened to us in the last six months. I kinda fail.

Six months ago today I woke up (late, typical of me lol) and excitedly started to prepare for my wedding day! Today I also woke up late haha and found a wonderful note from my husband explaining how he wasn't nervous in the least about our big day(and some other stuff lol). As soon as I read that I went "me too!" haha. Soul mates for sure. But in all seriousness I married the man God made just for me and every day since we said I do has been better than the last.

Engagement pictures featured!!!

2011-04-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

How awesome! Our Engagement pictures got featured again!!! This time on The Disney Wedding Blog!!! I would check this blog all the time when we were planning our wedding! Im so excited!!! yay!!!

Farewell

2011-04-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

Our first pet passed away this week. Poor Tail-lights. He will be missed... more by Phil than me though lol.

A few pictures the day before he died.

What would you do?

2011-03-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

With all these disasters going on it got me thinking... What would you grab in an evacuation?

People were evacuated in Hawaii because of the tsunami that was caused by the earthquakes in Japan. Would you take your computers? Financial papers? Clothes? Any food that was around? In this specific situation would you run around picking up things that were close to the floor in case your home did get flooded? And could you do it all in less than 5 minuets?

This isn't the first time these thoughts have run through my head. When the fire season starts up here in California I think about it then too. Not that we are in a fire zone but it still makes me wonder.

My thinking is all a little different now that I'm married. What if Phil wasn't home? Could I grab both our 'valuables' and run them down two flights of stairs?

Sorry if this is to gloom and doom... just food for though. Id love to hear what you guys would do.

Oh and to help out in Japan go to convoyofhope.org or text TSUNAMI to 50555 to donate $10 to Convoy of Hope's Disaster Response efforts!

P.s. This is a blog has some great ideas and tips! thesurvivalmom.com

this week and last...

2011-03-11T12:47:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures from this week and last week. Im going to try and post pics from Phils Bday adventure soon! I took way to many at the La Brea Tar Pits!

Some of Phils bday gifts from me :) they are from Bugs Under Glass... an awesome etsy store!

A little bit more decorating in our dining/kitchen area.

I guess that was it lol I thought I had more.

Did you know...?

2011-03-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

That Ive updated the title of our blog. Its not 'Our Wedding Plans' any more its
'...till death, right?'

You guys should update it in your blog rolls :)

His Birthday

2011-03-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday my Husband.

I love you more and more every day. I never dreamed that was possible! You truly are my other half... I cant imagine my life without you.
Thank you for making me your wife. I LOVE YOU!!!

Last few days...

2011-02-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

February 13th: My 26th Bday!
The day started off fun! And by day I mean midnight lol. Phil let me open the presents he got me right before we went to bed. Hes such an amazing husband!
He gave me a band new moleskin sketchbook, coasters & Ponyo! He wrapped them all in a shoebox style box that Ive been wanting from Borders too.

Later was church and we were late lol. I was going to say typical me but since we've been married Ive been a lot better about getting to church almost on time. But we got there really late and got caught walking in by everyone when Pastor John prayed for me because it was my birthday. lol oops :)

Fast forward to after church... we went over to my parents house and had a BBQ with both families. I love BBQ and it was delicious! After the food settled and just as we started to crave a late Sunday afternoon nap we took off for Disneyland! It was a great way to end my 26th bday!

February 14th: Vday
Nothing special. I prefer to celebrate my birthday over Valentines day. So Phil gets a pass on on the 14th. We had mac and cheese and watched Ponyo! Best first married Vday ever! haha

February 19th - 21st: First Vacation!
We both decided that this was a perfect weekend to get away! Off to Palm Springs we went.

We left Saturday afternoon and it rained the whole way there and pretty much the whole day in Palm Springs. So we played it lazy, checked into our hotel and got settled. Went out for dinner and then went and saw Tron in 3d IMAX (real IMAX not new small IMAX) I got a bad headache from it. After we went back the the hotel and listened to the rain. It was raining really big drops and it was coming down hard! I love listening to the rain.

Sunday we planned to go on the arial tram up the mountain. But because of all the rain they got TONS of snow. So everyone was trying to get up there. We tried to find parking for almost an hour and then gave up. We went back to the hotel and like the smart savvy Internet people we are we ordered tickets online for the next day.

Then we went and did a little thrifting. We weren't very successful.

Monday we got up early to check out, went and walked the little strip area with all the shops... we bought a magnet. Nothing really good to buy lol. Before taking off to go to the tram we grabbed a pure chocolate at Coffee Bean(our fav!).

Off to the tram we went! We had found out earlier that morning from my mom that a hiker didn't return on Saturday when he was supposed to so they had search and rescue up there looking for him. We saw a few news vans at the base of the mountain and then in the parking lots too. It didn't effect our trip at all though :)

It was so white and crisp up at the top! Snow up to our knees in places! We stayed up there in the cold for like 3 hours. We came back down all wet lol. We weren't prepared for that much snow when we left our house. But it was so much fun to go tromping through the snow with Phil.

It was a wonderfully lazy weekend!

decorating

2011-02-01T14:38:00.000-08:00

Did a little more decorating this last week! Mostly because we hosted our 20-somethings bible study at our humble abode on Friday! It was so fun to have everyone over and to see our house full of friends!

Earlier in January I had shown Phil this fun photo Id saved years ago on my computer... it was great inspiration for our bathroom. So this is our rendition of it! lol We hung it up a few days before the bible study and everyone thought it was hilarious!

I was also inspired by these pictures

So off the the thrift store we went... we found an awesome beat up frame and some flatware all for under $5! And voilà!

I still want to paint them... I just couldn't decide on a color

I'm having fun turning our apartment into a home!

Next up decorating for Valentines Day! I found these great ideas on How About Orange!
Fabric Valentine hearts garland & Asterisk heart garland template

nothing special

2011-01-13T15:37:00.000-08:00

Just some pictures from this week...

We took down Christmas and decided to unpack some of our toys

Oh and we found this fun vintage door while curb shopping one day lol! Were going to hang photos on it I think...

How time flys!

2011-01-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

Two whole months of marital bliss!

...sometime soon I need to post a wedding recap. Filled to the brim with our fantastic pictures :)

Leftovers

2011-01-04T18:54:00.000-08:00

Our first leftovers!

Its cheesy potato soup... and it was bomb!

Christmas is HERE!

2010-12-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

We are all decked out for Christmas here at the Carnehl house!

Its tradition in the Holmes family to get a new Christmas ornament every year... these are ours!

And of course presents under the tree!

Since I didn't get to go to South Dakota this year for Christmas (its not Christmas without snow in my opinion lol) I made it snow in our living room!

A Pet!

2010-12-10T14:00:00.000-08:00

We aren't allowed to have pets in our apartment building... but shhhh don't tell on us! lol

This is Tail-Lights. TL for short (Because he has red dots on his hind end). Hes a jumping spider.

My brother-in-law Mark found him at school and brought him to Phil. So now we have a pet spider.

I was way less than thrilled when I found out but hes a very quiet pet and I'm not responsible for him in any way so that's nice. Also Phil says he will keep other spiders away because of some chemical he releases. I say that's a bonus... but pretty much the only bonus. lol

One Month!

2010-12-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we made it to our one month anniversary! Yay us!
We celebrated a little early by going to Disneyland on Sunday night... in the rain! It was freezing and very wet but wonderful to be spending the time with my hubby!

On Monday our the actual one month marker... we went and got a Christmas Tree!

I cant wait to get our little home all decked out for Christmas!!!

MARRIED!

2010-12-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

Were MARRIED!

I love my new life! ...although at the moment it doesn't feel very different. I live somewhere new and I don't get to sleep in my own bed anymore lol That's about all that's changed... well almost ;)

So to spruce things up a bit I did a bit of a re-design here. Gave this once was wedding blog a new name too!

I cant wait to start writing about all the excitingly normal everyday things we will be doing in our married life!!!

SO CLOSE!

2010-11-04T12:43:00.001-07:00

Things are a bit crazy right now... but im trying to stay relaxed and calm :)
The next time I post on here ill be a married woman! Awesome!!!

countdown's getting lower every day!

2010-10-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

Holy COW!

Can I say I never imagined we would ever make it to this day with out sounding stupid!? Not like we weren't gunna make it relationship wise... more like Jesus would come back before we could get married lol!

Not only is today day 10 but its also our 7 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
Go us!

on a random wedding side note Ive discovered I have 3 different types of moods when it comes to getting married.
Mood 1 is the meh whatever mood. Very calm and nonchalant
Mood 2 is the OMG excited bride mood.
and Mood 3 is meltdown mode. Stressed out, tears included.

Moods 1 & 3 happen the most. And mood 3 usually happens to my poor future husband... so im sure he will be glad when all the wedding shenanigans are done! lol

Oh I forgot!

2010-10-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot to share this!

We got featured in the OC Register online! Because of our Disneyland e-session!
Heres the link! Go check it out! :D

http://ocresort.ocregister.com

So little time!

2010-10-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

We are getting married in 2 weeks and 2 day! So crazy!

I have so much left to do and I feel like the hours are slipping through my fingers like sand! Not good!

Yesterday Phil and I ran around like crazy! I had my 2nd dress fitting. We picked up our marriage licence... stopped by the florist ran over to the apartment and did some clean up & unpacking. Then somewhere in there we had dinner and met up with Cassi the church wedding coordinator to talk shop! Phew! Busy day. But we still didn't make a dent in our list of things to do :(

Hopefully ill get some more free time soon!

Oh and like I mentioned in the paragraph above we got an apartment! I cant wait to start living in it with Phil! Its going to be amazing!

Engagement Session!

2010-10-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

We of course went to Disneyland to take our engagement pictures! It was lots of fun! Stacee was barking orders at us and we couldnt stop laughing!

Here are some of my favs... you can see more on my flickr account

One month and counting!!!!!!!!!

Bachelorette Weekend!

2010-09-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

This wedding is coming up so fast now! I remember when we first got engaged thinking this is going to be the longest year of my life! FALSE! lol

I wanted to post some pictures from my bachlorette party! All my bridesmaids, maid of honor and the mother of the flower girl packed up our weekend bags and headed to DISNEYLAND! It was so much fun! And some how being at the nice family friendly Dland we still managed to make it all risque! I love my bridal party!

We all drove up on Friday(Sept 10th) night after everyone got off work. Checked into the hotel and headed to Buca di Beppos for dinner. We got to sit next to a small statue of David... and so the sillyness in sued (the little David is right by my head lol)

Saturday we woke up early and jetted over to Paradise Pier Hotel for the Mickey and Friends Breakfast! Good food. Also a bit embarrassing because I got called up to dance with the characters! lol But still a great memory!

Then we headed off to California Adventure to grab World of Color tickets and mess around in the parks. We got lots of looks and high fives because of our shirts! It was awesome!!!

Sunday we went back to Dland and hit up all the rides we missed on Saturday... and paid a visit to Chip N Dale lol

After a few more pictures we took off for home... our feet hurt! It was an amazing weekend!

2 months to go!

2010-09-05T23:25:00.001-07:00

Yay another weekend of wedding-ness! Went to the florist, made another trip to Davids Bridal with my future mom & sisters and then tried to get paper for our DIY invites but the place was closed. So that part was a fail lol.
Oh I also got my hair touched up for our engagement pics on the 19th!!!

Next weekend is going to be epic! Bachelorette weekend at Disneyland!!!!

Here are some pictures of the bridal shower! Stacee did an amazing job!
Im still in awe of how that whole night went! I felt so loved and blessed!!! It was just amazing!

69!

2010-08-30T00:28:00.000-07:00

sorry I couldnt resist posting this screen cap of my facebook wedding counter lol

Also last night was my bridal shower! It was amazing! My bridesmaids and maid of honor and friends are so so awesome!!! And that it putting it lightly! They threw me a wonderful party!

here are a few pictures I took before the set up started!

3 months!!!

2010-08-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

preview?

2010-07-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

I found this picture while surfing the many wedding blogs that I love and couldn't help but laugh! Thats pretty much what our wedding party is going to look like! I love the uneven-ness its fun :D

Honeymoon!

2010-07-05T23:06:00.000-07:00

Its booked! I'm beyond excited! Ive had more fun planning this than anything so far for the wedding! lol

Were taking a road trip up the coast. The plan is to stop in San Simeon and visit Hearst Castle and few thrift stores!

I'm really excited to make a stop at Jade Cove while we drive through Big Sur. I saw and episode of 'Treasure Hunter with Kirsten Gum' and she went diving there for jade... pretty awesome! So we are going to try our luck just with out the diving part.

Next stop is Monterey and the Monterey Bay aquarium! We love to look at the fishes and this place looks insane! Oh and of course more thrifting!

Then on to San Francisco! We want to take a day and go to Golden Gate park and of course the bridge too. Then visit Fisherman's Wharf for some clam chowder!

4 months to go! I'm ready for it to be here already... well sometimes.

feeling accomplished

2010-06-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

Finally Ive started sending out my part of the save the dates! Phil is far less procrastinating than I am and has been done for a week or two now. But in my defence I've been really sick all last week. No one wants germy save the dates lol

PICTURES!!!
Im sooo proud of how these turned out! We worked super hard on them :D I cant wait to start designing our wedding invites!

<3 Shanna

Registering

2010-06-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend was really fun!

We had our first per premarital counseling meeting with Pastor John Saturday morning. It went really well I thought although I was super nervous the whole time lol.

Later that day we made a trip to Target and set up our regisrty! It was really fun to walk around and scan all the items we wanted. I kept trying to quote the registy scene in 27 Dresses when she talks about the cassarole dish... Phil didnt really get it so I stopped lol!

Phil got a little carried away :)

Just one more thing to check off our list of things! yay! 5 months to go!

<3 Shanna

6 months!

2010-05-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

Its been a month since I last posted and boy have we got a TON of stuff done!
I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest.

We have all the silk flowers purchased! That covers the reception and all the flower decorations for the sanctuary. We had a little struggle finding some specific flowers because Michales has already moved out the spring flowers to make way for the fall ones. But my Aunt came to the rescue and was able to find the remainder for us in South Dakota!

Oh and we are pretty much decided on how to decorate the stage for the ceremony too. We built and arbor of sorts...

we were just going to wrap it with fabric and hang a beaded curtain to help distract everyone. But I was pointed to this website and I like the way they drape the fabric from side to side...

Lets see what else...

oh I GOT A DRESS!!!!!!!!!!!
I went with my mother, sisters and Denise my MOH to Davids Bridal a few Sundays ago and it was amazing! I'm getting ready to go back with all the bridesmaids to get them dresses soon too.

I'm still working on the guest list though. I hate clerical work like that so I'm avoiding it at all costs. Which means we will be sending out our save the dates late. But that's okay all the out of towners already know when the wedding is. But they will get done soon don't worry!

<3 Shanna

What a relief!

2010-04-06T19:07:00.001-07:00

I was planning to post today about how panicked I was that we would be saying our ‘I dos’ in 6 months. I'm sure you can imagine my cry of excitement when I looked over at that counter on the right and it said 7 months!

Naturally I am a procrastinator and I've been struggling over the guest list and finding time to perfect our save the dates (I'm also a perfectionist). Also I've been terrified to go wedding dress shopping... but 7 months, wow everything is looking much better now!

<3 Shanna

Surprisingly dignified you say!?

2010-03-26T23:48:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Borders and look what I picked up!

Best wedding purchace ever? I think YES!

Miss Manners you are amazing! I cant wait for my Surprisingly Dignified Wedding!

<3 Shanna

Happy Birthday!

2010-03-01T16:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday fiancé!

250 days until I can call you HUSBAND! I cant wait!

The Groom and his Men

2010-02-15T15:12:00.000-08:00

Cue the horns "bup ba da baaaaah!" Phil here, after a few months of Shanna reminding me "hey you know that blog we have? you should post on it too!" Well here i go, blogging, because i love Shanna and occasionally like to show off stuff i've made lol. Took me forever to come up with a fun way to ask my groomsmen for their presence at my wedding but i finally committed to something and really happy with how they turned out. It had to be manly but classy at the same time, and what says classy man better than custom pizza boxes? I can't think of anything. Anyway, hopefully i'll find other things to blog after this as well. Planning is going good, future is looking bright, thanks for your prayers and to all a good night :D

Thanks to my brothers (Mark and Paul), Steven and Brandon and Kevin, well i haven't asked Kevin yet but i know he'll say yes.

Pretty little maids...

2010-02-08T20:55:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pictures of what I did to ask my friends, cousins and sisters to be in our wedding!

I wish I could say I came up with this all on my own but sadly I didn't. I used this tutorial... fell in love with it way before Phil and I were even engaged!

via Once Wed & Anna of Rifle Design

Here's what my version of it!

Thank you Denise, Susanna, Stacee, Candice, Cassandra, Aimee & Elise for say YES and being a part of our big day. Its going to be so amazing because of you guys!!!

<3 Shanna

Greedy Bride

2010-01-11T15:22:00.000-08:00

I cant help but surf Etsy and look and all the wonderful handmade wedding things! Its an addiction... im seeking professional help dont worry :D

Anyways while I was surfing a few days ago I came across this lovely handmade dress hanger by LilaFrances!

Isnt it LOVELY! I want one so badly and I dont feel bad for wanting it because its affordable!

299 days till the wedding... im nervous! I havent accomplished much lol

<3 Shanna

Its Christmas time... again

2009-12-16T15:39:00.000-08:00

This month has been far to busy. Late nights at work plus the Christmas rush equal bad wedding planning month. Who has time to do anything!?! lol

Phil and I have been trying to decided on our wedding party. It wasn't easy, I wanted more and he wanted less. Eventually our compromise was not to compromise! I will have more bridesmaids then he will groomsmen and that's okay it will look AMAZING! (That's mostly due to the awesome people that we will ask to stand with us!)

Having finally come to a decision hasn't left me with much time to make my 'ask my bridesmaids' gifty things. But they are coming along and I hope to have them done and sent out before Christmas! I cant wait! As soon as they are sent ill post photos of them for all to see :D

Until then have a very Merry Christmas! Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!

giving thanks

2009-11-27T22:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my family and I spent part of the thanks giving holiday with my future inlaws.
We had a blast! Eating pie, playing apples to apples (best game ever!) and of course discussing wedding plans!!! One of the topics discussed was save the dates and how Phil and I cant decide on whos design to go with. My FMIL is totally on my side for save the date designs... win haha.

Today on insane black friday I slept, it was nice. I did get up at 9 though and headed over to Kohls because they had an awesome deal on the Kitchenaid mixer. But as soon as I got there I left the line was wrapped around the inside of the store twice. When I got back home I bought it online for $5 more than it was selling for in the store. Another win!

<3 Shanna

Let it BEGIN!!!

2009-11-22T00:59:00.000-08:00

So this is our wedding planning blog... that will eventually turn into our married life blog!

Hopefully we can keep you all involved in the process of planning this amazing budget DIY wedding!!!